Method and system for reducing background sounds in a noisy environment

ABSTRACT

A method for reducing noise to a user to enable a conversation-of-interest to be heard, the noise originating from a noise source, the method comprising the steps of: operating at least one first device located at a first distance from the noise source, the user having noise-cancellation earphones connected to a second mobile device, the second mobile device located at a second distance from the noise source, the first distance less than the second distance; prehearing noise from the noise source using the at least one first device; analyzing the preheard noise to yield a respective analyzed noise signal; and processing the respective analyzed noise signal to effect noise cancellation for the noise-cancellation earphones.

The present application claims priority from U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 62/260,192, filed 25 Nov. 2015, whose disclosure isincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION AND BACKGROUND

The current invention relates to acoustic signal processing in general,and specifically to a method and system for silencing music and otherbackground sounds in a noisy environment.

In the specification and claims which follow below, the term “noisyenvironment” is intended to have equivalent meaning to “noisy room”,“noisy surroundings”, and/or “noising background”. Examples of noisysurroundings include, but are not limited to: restaurants, publicplaces, and wedding halls.

In the specification and claim which follow below, the term “earpiece”is intended to have the same meaning of words such as, but not limitedto: earphone, earphones, earbud, and hearing aid. The meaning of “noise”in the specification and claims which follow below is intended to meanany spurious sound, either in acoustic or electronic form, the spurioussound such as but not limited to: music; environmental sound; andundesirable conversation.

The “cocktail party effect” is the phenomenon of being able to focusone's auditory attention on a particular stimulus while filtering out arange of other stimuli, much the same way that a partygoer can focus ona single conversation in a noisy room. This effect is what allows mostpeople to “tune into” a single voice and “tune out” all others. It mayalso describe a similar phenomenon that occurs when one may immediatelydetect words of importance originating from unattended stimuli, forinstance hearing one's name in another conversation.

Most people can carry on conversations, even in a noisy environment,i.e. the “cocktail party effect”. Noisy surroundings are common. Forexample, many restaurants, halls, and large public places play musicwhile guests attempt to converse with one another.

However, hearing loss or impairment, especially associated withage-related hearing loss, makes it difficult to hear/discernconversations in a noisy environment. This difficulty impacts the sociallife of those who cannot converse effectively in noisy surroundings.Hearing aids cannot typically correct this problem, as the issue is notto amplify the conversation sound but rather to distinguish theconversation-of-interest from other noise in the surroundings. One wayto deal with the problem is as described below.

Active noise control (ANC), also known as noise cancellation, or activenoise reduction (ANR) are methods for reducing unwanted sound by theaddition of a sound, the additional sound specifically designed tocancel the unwanted (first) sound. An early example of a prior artpublication in this field, and which is incorporated by reference, isthat in which Paul Leug, Kirchstrasse, in German Patent Application714,582 describe how sound oscillations, which are to be silenced, aretaken in by a receiver and reproduced by a reproducing apparatus in theform of sounds having an opposite phase.

Reference is currently made to FIG. 1, which is a schematicrepresentation of a prior art principle of ANC/ARC 5, showing a noisesignal 6, an anti-noise signal 7, and a resultant sound signal 9. As isshown in the figure, anti-noise signal 7 is combined with noise signal 6to yield the resultant sound signal, which has attenuated noise and/oran overall attenuated signal.

In general, active noise cancelation is a complicated problem toaddress; however cancelling noise in a specific location (such as in orvery close to the human ear) is well known. One example of prior artdeveloped to cancel a specific sound from the surroundings, within anear, is the “Here One” product, by Doppler Labs Inc., 1958 South 950East Provo, Utah 84606, USA, whose disclosure is incorporated herein byreference.

Reiterating, the issue is not to compensate for hearing loss, but toreduce background sounds, such as described by Jorgensen et al. in USpatent application publication 20090041260, whose disclosure isincorporated herein by reference. Jorgensen describes a hearing devicesystem comprising at least one hearing aid circuitry and at least oneactive noise cancellation unit, the at least one hearing aid circuitrycomprises at least one input transducer adapted to convert a first audiosignal to an electric audio signal; a signal processor connected to theat least one input transducer and adapted to process said electric audiosignal by at least partially correcting for the hearing loss of a user;an output transducer adapted to generate from at least said processedelectric audio signal a sound pressure in an ear canal of the user,whereby the generated sound pressure is at least partially corrected forthe hearing loss of the user; the at least one active noise cancellationunit being adapted to provide an active noise cancellation signaladapted to perform active noise cancellation of an acoustical signalentering the ear canal in addition to said generated sound pressure,wherein the hearing device system further comprises a combiner unitadapted to combine the processed electric audio signal with the activenoise cancellation signal, to obtain a combined signal and to providethe combined signal to the output transducer.

In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/559,299, whose disclosure isincorporated herein by reference, Christoph describes an active noisereduction system, which includes an earphone with a cup-like housing,and a transmitting transducer, which converts electrical signals intoacoustical signals and is arranged at an aperture of the housing. Areceiving transducer converts acoustical signals into electricalsignals, and is arranged proximate the transmitting transducer. A ductincludes an end acoustically coupled to the receiving transducer,another end located proximate the transmitting transducer. An acousticalpath extends from the transmitting transducer to a listener's ear, andhas a first transfer characteristic. Another acoustical path extendsfrom the transmitting transducer through the duct to the receivingtransducer, and has a second transfer characteristic. A control unitgenerates a noise reducing electrical signal that is supplied to thetransmitting transducer. This signal is derived from thereceiving-transducer signal and filtered with a third transfercharacteristic.

Andrea et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,456, whose disclosure isincorporated herein by reference, describe a transducer for use in anoise cancellation apparatus for reducing background noise, including ahousing having first microphone means for receiving a first acousticsound composed of speech originating from an operator operating theapparatus and background noise, and for converting the first acousticsound to a first signal, and second microphone means arranged at apredetermined angle φ in close proximity with respect to the firstmicrophone means for receiving a second acoustic sound composed ofsubstantially the background noise and for converting the secondacoustic sound to a second signal. The first and second microphones areconnected to a differential amplifier means of the noise cancellationapparatus so as to obtain a signal representing substantially speech.The amplifier means is for receiving acoustic sounds from eachmicrophone and has a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein thesecond terminal is grounded. The transducer further includes atransistor means for receiving and amplifying an AC signalrepresentative of the audio input from each microphone; and means forfiltering the amplified AC signal from the DC signal, so that the DCsignal powers the amplifier means. Also disclosed is a method forcalibrating an active noise reduction apparatus including a housinghaving a speaker to produce an acoustic anti-noise signal in thehousing, a microphone to detect an external noise signal, and anamplitude adjustment means to calibrate the acoustic anti-noise signalto create a quiet zone in the housing for operation with an independentelectrical assembly, wherein the apparatus is calibrated separately fromthe electrical assembly. The method includes the steps of: inputting theexternal noise signal received by the microphone to produce ananti-noise signal; transmitting to the speaker the anti-noise signalhaving an equal gain and opposite phase response to the external noisesignal detected by the microphone; and balancing the gain and phaseresponse of the anti-noise signal by the amplitude adjustment meanslocated in the noise reduction apparatus to match the gain and phaseresponse of the external noise signal to yield a theoretical zero in thequiet zone.

A strong disadvantage of the prior art is that aconversation-of-interest is generally cancelled/attenuated/removed,along with environmental noise.

There is therefore a need to more effectively cancel and/or clean anoisy background and with high selectivity, while substantiallynot-attenuating at least one conversation-of-interest in the environmentto enable the user to more easily hear/discern the conversation.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

According to the teachings of the current invention, there is provided amethod for reducing noise to a user to enable a conversation-of-interestto be heard, the noise originating from a noise source, the methodcomprising the steps of: operating at least one first device located ata first distance from the noise source, the user havingnoise-cancellation earphones connected to a second mobile device, thesecond mobile device located at a second distance from the noise source,the first distance less than the second distance; prehearing noise fromthe noise source using the at least one first device; analyzing thepreheard noise to yield a respective analyzed noise signal; andprocessing the respective analyzed noise signal to effect noisecancellation for the noise-cancellation earphones. Preferably, the atleast first device is chosen from the list including: a mobile device;and a sound sensor having electronic communication capability. Mostpreferably, the second device is a mobile device. Typically, theconversation-of-interest is heard by the user, chosen from the listincluding: transferred by the user's mobile device to the noisecancellation earphones; directly, without the use of noise cancellationearphones, and directly and transferred by the user's mobile device tothe noise cancellation earphones.

According to the teachings of the current invention, there is furtherprovided a method for reducing noise to a user to enable aconversation-of-interest to be heard, the noise originating from anacoustical and a non-acoustical source, the method comprising the stepsof: operating a mobile device, the user having noise-cancellationearphones connected to the mobile device; prehearing the noise using themobile device; analyzing the preheard noise to yield an analyzed noisesignal; and processing the analyzed noise signal to effect noisecancellation for the noise-cancellation earphones. Preferably,prehearing the noise is performed non-acoustically from thenon-acoustical source. Most preferably, the noise is preheardelectronically, with timing of prehearing chosen from the listincluding: substantially simultaneously as the noise originates from theacoustical source; and before the noise originates from the acousticalsource. Typically, the mobile device is a user-worn integrated devicehaving the mobile device and the noise cancellation earphones.

According to the teachings of the current invention, there is furtherprovided a method for reducing noise to a user to enable aconversation-of-interest to be heard, the noise originating from anacoustical source, the method comprising the steps of: operating amobile device, the user having noise-cancellation earphones connected tothe mobile device; sampling the noise using the mobile device; analyzingthe preheard noise to yield an analyzed noise signal; and processing theanalyzed noise signal to effect noise cancellation for thenoise-cancellation earphones. Preferably, the noise is sampled from theacoustical source, the sample is compared to a database having noiserecordings, and thereby identifying and retrieving an entire recordingmatching the noise, the entire recording subsequently used for noisecancellation.

According to the teachings of the current invention, there is furtherprovided a system for reducing noise to a user to enable aconversation-of-interest to be heard, the noise originating from a noisesource, the system comprising: at least one first device located at afirst distance from the noise source; the user having noise-cancellationearphones configured to be connected to a second mobile device, thesecond mobile device located at a second distance from the noise source,the first distance less than the second distance; the at least one firstdevice configured to prehear noise from the noise source; the preheardnoise being analyzed to yield a respective analyzed noise signal; andthe noise-cancellation earphones configured to effect noisecancellation, subsequent to processing of the respective analyzed noisesignal. Preferably, the at least first device is chosen from the listincluding: a mobile device; and a sound sensor having electroniccommunication capability. Most preferably, the second device is a mobiledevice. Typically, the conversation-of-interest is heard by the user,chosen from the list including: transferred by the user's mobile deviceto the noise cancellation earphones; directly, without the use of noisecancellation earphones.

According to the teachings of the current invention, there is furtherprovided a system for reducing noise to a user to enable aconversation-of-interest to be heard, the noise originating from anacoustical and a non-acoustical source, the system comprising: a mobiledevice configured to be connected to noise-cancellation earphones of theuser; the mobile device further configured to prehear the noise; thepreheard noise being analyzed to yield an analyzed noise signal; and thenoise-cancellation earphones configured to effect noise cancellation,subsequent to processing of the analyzed noise signal. Preferably, thenoise is preheard non-acoustically from the non-acoustical source. Mostpreferably, the noise is preheard electronically, with a timing ofprehearing chosen from the list including: substantially simultaneouslyas the noise originates from the acoustical source; and before the noiseoriginates from the acoustical source.

According to the teachings of the current invention, there is furtherprovided a system for reducing noise to a user to enable aconversation-of-interest to be heard, the noise originating from anacoustical source, the system comprising: a mobile device configured tobe connected to noise-cancellation earphones of the user; the mobiledevice further configured to sample the noise; the preheard noise beinganalyzed to yield an analyzed noise signal; and the noise-cancellationearphones configured to effect noise cancellation, subsequent toprocessing of the analyzed noise signal. Preferably, the noise issampled from the acoustical source, the sample compared to a databasehaving noise recordings, and thereby identifying and retrieving anentire recording matching the noise, the entire recording subsequentlyused for noise cancellation.

LIST OF FIGURES

The invention is herein described, by way of example only, withreference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a prior art principle ofANC/ARC, showing a noise source/signal, an anti-noise source/signal, anda resultant sound signal;

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of an ANC/ARC system similar tothat shown in FIG. 1, but having direct cancellation of a noise signalby an anti-noise source/signal, yielding a resultant sound signal whichsubstantially represents a conversation signal, in accordance with anembodiments of the current invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of a noise cancellation systemhaving an electronic noise source, an acoustical noise source, emittingacoustical noise, and a mobile device, in accordance with embodiments ofthe current invention; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of a noise cancellation systemhaving a noise source and two exemplary mobile devices, in accordancewith embodiments of the current invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention relate to acoustic signalprocessing in general, and specifically to a method and system forsilencing music and other background sounds in a noisy environment.

In one embodiment, a user is located in a noisy environment in whichmusic is playing from loud speakers. The user wants to hear/discern aconversation-of-interest, but cannot do so because of the music. Acomplete solution to the problem is to directly (and substantially only)cancel the music.

Reference is made to FIG. 2, which is a schematic representation of anANC/ARC system 15, similar to that shown in FIG. 1, but having directcancellation of a noise signal 16 by an anti-noise source/signal 17,yielding a resultant sound signal 19 which substantially represents aconversation signal 18, in accordance with an embodiments of the currentinvention. In the current figure, system 15 takes advantage of knowingin advance what the noise signal is to be able to more selectively andmore completely cancel the noise signal, using one or more of theabovementioned noise cancellation techniques, to allow the resultantsound signal (ie the sound signal which is heard by the user) to beessentially/substantially the conversation signal 18 itself.Conversation signal 18 is effectively the conversation-of-interestdescribed above.

In the specification and in the claims which follow, the term“conversation-of-interest” is intended to have the meaning regardingconversation, as described above; however the term“conversation-of-interest” is also to be understood more widely as anysound signal of interest—as opposed to spurious “noise”.

The following discussion is an exemplary case of an embodiment of thecurrent invention, where noise signal 16 is music, such as backgroundmusic (which frequently is intrusive even though it is intended asbackground) played in public places, such as in restaurants and/or othermeeting places.

Embodiments of the current invention include a method for identifyingthe music, coupled with active noise cancelation to enable hearing aconversation-of-interest in noisy surroundings. As opposed to the priorart, embodiments of the current invention do not involve prediction oranticipation of the music—rather embodiments of the current inventionuse a deterministic approach, as described below. This distinctionallows for more complete active noise cancelation and also for betterresults in dealing with noise (i.e. music and other background sounds)which is difficult to predict in advance.

As part of embodiments of the current invention, it is understood thatthe user has a mobile device (such as, but not limited to: a smartphone,a tablet, an Amazon Echo, and any similar processor-based device whichhas at least one microphone) in communication with active noisecancelation earphones. One such configuration is found hi hearing aidcompatible (HAC) mobile phones, as known in the art, which contain ANCas described above.

While the mobile device and the noise cancellation earphones aredescribed as two separate entities (albeit having communication betweenthe two) embodiments of the current invention further include anintegrated and user-worn device, such as but not limited to:multi-functional eyeglasses including the mobile device and the noisecancellation earphones; and integrated virtual reality eyewear includingthe mobile device and the noise cancellation earphones.

Embodiments of the current invention take advantage of knowing whatnoise (in the current example, background music) will be played/heard inthe very near future—meaning usually a short time—from 1 to 20milliseconds—before the noise reaches the user.

The relative locations of the source of noise versus the location of theconversation-of-interest are important with regard to embodiments of thecurrent invention. Based on the speed of sound, the short time indicatedabove means that, whereas an exemplary conversation-of-interest takesplace typically about 1 to 3 meters from the user, the source of noisewhich we wish to cancel must be located at least a few meters furtheraway from the user. In the most general sense, embodiments of thecurrent invention dictate that the conversation of interest is closer tothe user than the noise source.

The term “prehear”, as used in the specification and claims whichfollow, is intended to mean such knowledge of the sound in the very nearfuture. The sound (usually “noise”, as defined above) may be preheardusing acoustical and/or non-acoustical means. Four methods/options toprehear the background sound (noise) are presented below.

Option 1

A first option/method is to analyze what music is being played by usinga music analysis technique such as that by Shazam Entertainment Limited,26-28 Hammersmith Grove, London W6 7HA, United Kingdom, whose disclosureis incorporated herein by reference. This method entails sampling themusic and sending the recorded sample to the cloud (using the shortestpossible transmission time) and then analyzing the recorded sample, asknown in the art. Following analysis, a sound file for the entirerecording is retrieved—typically a complete song, which is then used bya noise cancelation device to cancel the noise (music).Retrieval/transfer of the file may be done as a complete file or instreaming fashion.

Alternatively or optionally, the “Shazam” technique described could takeplace very close to or integrated with the noise cancellation mobiledevice by, for example, placing a large music database on the device andperforming the analysis and look up locally on the mobile device.Furthermore, any recorded noise which is likely to be repeated in thefuture may be added to the database.

Stated differently, once identification of a recording has taken place,a noise cancellation device cancels the played music because the noisecancellation device has essentially accessed the sound signal inadvance. Learning the exact timing is straightforward, as is describedin more detail below.

It should be noted that sampling/listening to the music, as noted above,is virtually identical to the definition of “prehearing” hereinabove,except that in the case of Option 1, the noise signal may be heard wellin advance (meaning a much longer time than “a very short time”) of whenthe music would be played/heard.

Option 2

A second option in the example of a restaurant, entails transmitting themusic (noise) (1): as it being played, (2): a short time before itplayed, or (3): any time before it is played using in short-distanceelectric communication, such as, but not limited to, Wi-Fi. In the firsttwo cases, (1) and (2), because sound travels significantly more slowlythan an electronic transmission, the transmitted signal reaches themobile device/user before the noise, allowing the signal information tobe used to prepare a noise-cancellation signal before the arrival of thenoise itself. Case (3) is essentially similar to Option 1 above—meaningthe music file is know well in advance and may be used for noisecancellation.

Alternatively or optionally, a restaurant speaker playing the backgroundmusic may be wirelessly connected to the source of the music (noise) inthe restaurant, in which case the mobile device may be wirelesslyconnected directly to the source—meaning the music is preheard withoutacoustic means.

Alternatively or optionally, the restaurant may also have the speakerconfigured with a slight delay, thereby allowing additional time toapply active sound cancelation. In each case, prehearing the sound isuseful for subsequent application of active noise cancelation, asdescribed hereinabove.

Reference is currently made to FIG. 3, which is a schematicrepresentation of a noise cancellation system 25 having an electronicnoise source 30, an acoustical noise source 36, emitting acoustic noise38, and a mobile device 40, in accordance with embodiments of thecurrent invention—and as described above in Options 1 and 2. The noiseis transmitted from the electronic noise source to the acoustical noisesource, along electronic communication path “A”, and acoustic noise 38is preheard by the mobile device, analyzed for ANC, and then sent ontothe user having an earpiece, (not shown in the current figure).

As described in Option 1 above, electronic noise source 30 serves totransmit the noise file to mobile device 40—along electroniccommunication path “B”—to serve to cancel the noise.

In both Options 1 and 2, by prehearing the noise, as described above,mobile device can effectively cancel the noise.

Option 3

A third option is to prehear the sound using a sound sensor located at adistance closer to the noise source than the location of the user. Thepreheard noise is then forwarded for processing using electroniccommunication, which is significantly faster than the speed of sound—allas noted above. Assuming the preheard noise processing is fast enough,active noise cancellation may be applied. Note that the simplestvariation of Option 3 is to employ a simple microphone-type sensor whichpicks up the noise and transmits the noise-sound signal electronicallyfor further calculation/analysis on another device, such as the user'smobile device.

Alternatively or optionally, another way to prehear the music this wayis by the user placing his mobile device closer to the source of thenoise to be canceled and having the mobile device communicate with theuser's sound canceling earphones. In the current option, a mobile deviceapp is applied to allow the mobile device to prehear, calculate, andthen send the noise-cancelling signal, along with theconversation-of-interest sound, to the user's earphones.

Option 4

A fourth option is to have a sharing app on a plurality of mobiledevices. Reference is currently made to FIG. 4, which is a schematicrepresentation of a noise cancellation system 100 having a noise source105 and two exemplary mobile devices 110 and 120, in accordance withembodiments of the current invention. Mobile devices 110 and 120 arerepresentative of a typical plurality of mobile devices. System 100operates by having mobile devices 110 and 120 hear and identify the samenoise—ie background music, in the case of the restaurant example.

Assuming mobile device 120 is the device of the user—meaning the userfor whom we wish to cancel the background noise—mobile device 120 thendetermines which of a plurality of mobile devices in its vicinity iscloser to the noise source. In the figure, it can be seen that mobiledevice 110 is located at a distance x₁ (corresponding to time T₁ forsound to travel), whereas mobile device 120 (the user's device) islocated at a distance x₂ (corresponding to time T₂ for sound to travel).In our example, mobile device 110 is closer to noise source 105 thanmobile device 120. Using the mobile device 110 to prehear the noise formobile device 120, as described hereinabove in Option 3, affords a timeadvantage of T₁-T₂. The preheard noise is analyzed, either on mobiledevice 120 or in the cloud, and the information is used for noisecancellation, as described hereinabove. The dotted line between mobiledevices 110 and 120 schematically represents either direct communicationand/or communication between the devices by virtue of the cloud, asknown in the art.

Embodiments of the current invention typically constrain theconversation-of-interest to be located closer to mobile device 120 thanto mobile device 110. In the example above, more than one mobile deviceaddition to mobile device 110) may be used to prehear the noise and theresultant plurality of prehearing mobile devices can be used to enhancenoise reduction/cancellation, operating with user's mobile device (iemobile device 120), as above.

Unlike option 1 or 2 for which we need either to know/identify the noise(i.e. music) or to receive it from some source, options 3 and 4 can beapplied for any background noise—such as, but not limited to:construction noise, sea noise, and traffic noise. In other words, option3 and 4 are not limited to music.

It is noted that in all of four Options described above, while noisereduction/cancellation is carried out as described hereinabove, theconversation-of-interest is transferred by the user's mobile device inparallel and played/heard by the user on his earphones. Alternatively oroptionally, the conversation-of-interest is heard directly by the userwithout the use of earphones. Alternatively or optionally, theconversation-of-interest is played and heard by the user on hisearphones and heard directly.

It will be appreciated that the above descriptions are intended only toserve as examples, and that many other embodiments are possible withinthe scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

1. A method for reducing noise to a user to enable aconversation-of-interest to be heard, the noise originating from a noisesource, the method comprising the steps of: operating at least one firstdevice located at a first distance from the noise source, the userhaving noise-cancellation earphones connected to a second mobile device,the second mobile device located at a second distance from the noisesource, the first distance less than the second distance; prehearingnoise from the noise source using the at least one first device;analyzing the preheard noise to yield a respective analyzed noisesignal; and processing the respective analyzed noise signal to effectnoise cancellation for the noise-cancellation earphones.
 2. The methodof claim 1, whereby the at least first device is chosen from the listincluding: a mobile device; and a sound sensor having electroniccommunication capability.
 3. The method of claim 2, whereby the seconddevice is a mobile device.
 4. The method of claim 3, whereby theconversation-of-interest is heard by the user, chosen from the listincluding: transferred by the user's mobile device to the noisecancellation earphones; directly, without the use of noise cancellationearphones, and directly and transferred by the user's mobile device tothe noise cancellation earphones.
 5. The method of claim 4, whereby thesecond device is a user-worn integrated device having the mobile deviceand the noise cancellation earphones.
 6. A method for reducing noise toa user to enable a conversation-of-interest to be heard, the noiseoriginating from an acoustical and a non-acoustical source, the methodcomprising the steps of: operating a mobile device, the user havingnoise-cancellation earphones connected to the mobile device; prehearingthe noise using the mobile device; analyzing the preheard noise to yieldan analyzed noise signal; and processing the analyzed noise signal toeffect noise cancellation for the noise-cancellation earphones.
 7. Themethod of claim 6, whereby prehearing the noise is performednon-acoustically from the non-acoustical source.
 8. The method of claim7, whereby the noise is preheard electronically, with timing ofprehearing chosen from the list including: substantially simultaneouslyas the noise originates from the acoustical source; and before the noiseoriginates from the acoustical source.
 9. The method of claim 6, wherebythe mobile device is a user-worn integrated device having the mobiledevice and the noise cancellation earphones.
 10. A method for reducingnoise to a user to enable a conversation-of-interest to be heard, thenoise originating from an acoustical source, the method comprising thesteps of: operating a mobile device, the user having noise-cancellationearphones connected to the mobile device; sampling the noise using themobile device; analyzing the preheard noise to yield an analyzed noisesignal; and processing the analyzed noise signal to effect noisecancellation for the noise-cancellation earphones.
 11. The method ofclaim 10, whereby the noise is sampled from the acoustical source, thesample is compared to a database having noise recordings, and therebyidentifying and retrieving an entire recording matching the noise, theentire recording subsequently used for noise cancellation.
 12. A systemfor reducing noise to a user to enable a conversation-of-interest to beheard, the noise originating from a noise source, the system comprising:at least one first device located at a first distance from the noisesource; the user having noise-cancellation earphones configured to beconnected to a second mobile device, the second mobile device located ata second distance from the noise source, the first distance less thanthe second distance; the at least one first device configured to prehearnoise from the noise source; the preheard noise being analyzed to yielda respective analyzed noise signal; and the noise-cancellation earphonesconfigured to effect noise cancellation, subsequent to processing of therespective analyzed noise signal.
 13. The system of claim 12, whereinthe at least first device is chosen from the list including: a mobiledevice; and a sound sensor having electronic communication capability.14. The system of claim 13, wherein the second device is a mobiledevice.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the conversation-of-interestis heard by the user, chosen from the list including: transferred by theuser's mobile device to the noise cancellation earphones; directly,without the use of noise cancellation earphones. 16.-20. (canceled)